Rise to Freedom
by TheLonelySoldier
Summary: Rick and his group of survivors are running out of options. Twelve years after Terminus, they're barely surviving and moving from place to place within days. Rick needs to find a new community, and fast.


A young girl of thirteen carefully stepped over the dirty puddles below her, she wouldn't want to attract the walkers by splashing about in the water even though she really really wanted to. That and the fact she knew her older brother of twenty seven, Carl, would be keeping a close eye on her. Sometimes Judith decided she hated Carl but then she remembered that Carl was the one to take care of her when her dad was trying to take care of the rest of her family.

Family.

That's what Judith had been told from the moment she could talk and she would never complain. Her dad was Rick, her brother Carl, the mother she never knew and then there was the rest of the family. Daryl was her godfather, Beth was her godmother and then there was her friend Tara who was a lot older than her. Glenn and Maggie were her uncle and aunty and Abraham was another older brother to Judith.

She remembered aunty Carol and uncle Tyreese but they left when Judith was just four. Then there was Rosita, Judith liked Rosita and she could still remember the fresh images of Rosita being bitten by one of the walkers. Judith hated the walkers and she had been taught by Beth that hate was a strong word. Lastly, there was Eugene. She liked Eugene, he was very clever and there was never a moment Abraham would let her forget it.

"Rick, we should find a place to sleep because I'm not sleeping out in the dark after what happened last night, those walkers were crawling all over us in seconds." Tara said from the front, glancing over her shoulder at Rick. Her arm wound around Judith's as they quietly made their way down the deserted road.

Daryl paused from beside Rick and pulled his beloved crossbow over his shoulder. "The girl's right, I ain't gonna be bitten by no freak tonight."

The only response Rick had was nodding his head in acknowledgement. His hand pulled at his grey beard as he looked up at the sky. It was almost night, he could have guessed. The musky sky was growing darker by the minute, Rick couldn't remember the last time they had a walker free night. He couldn't remember what it felt like to feel safe. The truth was, they were never safe and sooner or later they were all going to die.

From a far, Glenn spotted a shadow of hope. "Over there, it looks like somewhere we could stay the night?" it was more of a statement than a question. His hand slipped from Maggie's as he pointed out the abandoned house sat on the hillside.

"We'll have to check it out, come on." Rick said, his Colt Python revolver slipping from his thigh holster.

Rick crouched down as he signaled for Daryl to make his way up the hillside first, his crossbow raised. Rick pointed to both Glenn and Maggie and nodded towards the back entrance of the house, it may have been dangerous but they were the only two covered head to toe in police issued armour. He then signaled for Abraham, Eugene, Beth and Carl to follow Daryl. Before Rick stood up, he lowered his hand in a signal that he wanted Tara to stay behind with Judith. The girl nodded in return.

Daryl carefully pushed the door open with his boot, his finger twitching against his crossbow's trigger. The door creaked in a sinister way and from behind him, he could hear Beth's slightly hitched breathing in his ear. Daryl didn't have time to be scared, he wasn't scared of nothing.

"Too scared to go in, partner?" Abraham chuckled from the back, his machete held over his broad shoulder.

Beth glared at the ex Military soldier. "Shh." she placed her finger over her lips and shhh'd him like she would a baby. She smirked in triumph when Daryl gave her one of his famous approval nods.

Daryl stepped inside, immediately aiming his crossbow to the left whilst Beth aimed her knife to the right. "I ain't scared of nothin'."

Rick pushed through, his gun held in his hand as he swept the area. There were no dead, rotting bodies around and no foul smells lurking around them. Half the house had been blown to pieces by what looked like a bullet from a tank but Rick had seen the surrounding fences on the floor that they could easily put up for the night. He liked this place and he knew Judith would be safe for the night.

Carl switched on his torch, his machete raised in front of him as he took in the scene in front of him. The house had wooden, mostly broken floorboards and the wooden furniture was covered in dust. He learned over and switched a lamp on, the light barely surrounding the area. Carl glanced over his shoulder, signalling for Tara to bring Judith in as he heard Daryl slump down on a make-shift mattress at the back entrance, Beth in tow.

"Hey Jude." Carl smiled at his younger sibling and placed his hand on the Sheriff's hat he had been wearing for fourteen long years.

Staring down at Judith's big blue piercing eyes, he placed the hat on her head and touched her dirty face when she started to smile.

"Thanks Carl." Judith smiled up at him and grabbed his hand, dragging him towards the end of the room as they both sat on the old worn out and rather smelly mattress.

After Glenn and Maggie had come in from the back entrance and stepped over the bodies of Daryl and Beth, everyone chose a spot to sit and listened to Rick as he stepped up.

"Look I know these last twelve years have been rough on all of us and we've all lost important people," Rick began talking, his hands on his belt. "But we have to survive, otherwise all we've sacrificed for will mean nothing if we just give up. We'll head out south tomorrow morning for water and food, there should be a lake nearby. I'll keep out watch tonight and you people get some rest."

Daryl and Beth couldn't disagree with that plan. The Archer stretched out like a cat and left an arm near Beth's head, secretly wanting to pull her closer to him but he knew himself he couldn't do that with Maggie watching them. Both of them fell asleep within seconds, the next two to fall asleep were Glenn and Maggie, then Judith and Tara, then Abraham and Eugene and the last to fall asleep was Carl, his arm protectively wrapped around his little sister's body.


End file.
